REPORT 


INLAND  NAVIGATION 


COMMITTEE  ON 


AND 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT, 


RELATIVE  TO  THE  FURTHER  EXTENSION  OF  THE 
PENNSYLVANIA  CANAL,  ACCOMPANIED 
A BILL. 


Mr.  LEHMAN,  Chairman. 


Read  in  the  House  of  Representatives , February  28,  1827. 


s&wrrtetmrfl : 

PRINTED  BT  J.  8.  WISSTSIRCL 
1827. 


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MtpovU 


Mr.  Lehman,  from  the  committee  on  inland  navigation  and  in- 
ternal improvement,  to  whom  were  referred  so  much  of  the  Go- 
vernor’s message  as  relates  to  the  further  prosecution  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania canal,  and  sundry  petitions  relative  to  the  same  subject, 
and  the  reports  of  the  canal  commissioners,  and  of  the  engineers 
employed  by  the  state,  and  also  a resolution  relating  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  Delaware  river,  made 

REPORT : 

That,  impressed  with  the  vital  importance  of  completing,  with- 
out delay,  the  works  of  internal  improvement,  commenced  by  the 
patriotism  and  wisdom  of  the  last  legislature,  they  report  a bill, 
requiring  the  board  of  canal  commissioners  to  extend  the  Penn- 
sylvania canal  to  the  eastern  and  western  base  of  the  Allegheny, 
by  the  waters  of  the  Juniata  and  the  Conemaugh,  and  to  the  New 
York  state  line,  on  the  North  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Sinnemahoning,  on  the  West  Branch.  They 
have  further  provided  for  the  execution,  in  part,  of  the  feeder 
from  French  creek  to  Conneaut  lake,  and  for  suitable  investiga- 
tions and  operations  in  relation  to  the  construction  of  a rail-way, 
with  either  locomotive  or  stationary  engines,  and  in  relation  to  a 
smooth  road,  with  an  easy  graduation,  for  the  purpose  of  passing 
the  summit  between  the  Juniata  and  the  Conemaugh,  and  also  for 
examinations  in  the  channel,  or  along  the  valley  of  the  Delaware, 
and  for  further  examinations  on  the  summit  level  of  the  West 
Branch  of  the  Susquehanna.  The  commencement  of  actual  ope- 
rations on  the  Delaware,  under  certain  restrictions,  is  also  one  of 
the  objects  of  the  bill. 

The  whole  length  of  the  line  of  canal,  authorised  by  the  bill, 
will  be  about  500  miles,  a large  portion  of  which,  it  is  confidently- 
believed,  may  be  prepared  and  put  under  contract  within  the  pre- 
sent year. 

The  committee  believe,  that  after  a careful  examination,  the 
practicability  of  the  improvements  in  contemplation,  is  fully  as- 
certained ; and  that  a boat  navigation  c?n  be  constructed  along 
the  valley  of  the  Susquehanna,  to  the  state  line,  and  also  between 
the  Delaware,  and  the  Ohio  and  Lake  Erie,  with  a portage  of  41 
miles  upon  the  Juniata  route,  and  a shorter  portage  upon  the  West 
Branch  route.  The  committee,  however,  do  not  relinquish  the 


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hope  that  further  examinations  will  demonstrate  the  practicabili- 
ty of  an  uninterrupted  water  communication  from  the  West 
Branch  to  Lake  Erie. 

All  the  works  can  be  executed  at  a moderate  expense.  Such  is 
the  favourable  nature  of  the  ground  in  Pennsylvania,  that  the 
average  cost  per  mile,  including  lockage,  will  not  be  much  more 
than  half  of  the  cost  of  the  canals  of  New  York,  with  which  they 
are  destined  to  enter  into  competition  for  the  trade  between  the 
east  and  the  west.  The  committee  will  refer  to  the  official  reports 
of  the  commissioners.  They  were  guided  in  their  estimates  by 
engineers  distinguished  for  skill  and  experience,  and  maintain  the 
opinion,  not  only  as  to  the  practicability,  but  that  the  average  cost 
of  improvements  to  the  extent  of  five  hundred  miles,  wiil  not 
exceed  ten  thousand  dollars  per  mile. 

With  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  estimates,  the  committee  will 
call  the  attention  of  the  House  to  the  policy,  and  they  will  say  to 
the  necessity,  of  further  appropriations  for  the  prosecut  on  of  the 
great  works,  sanctioned  by  the  judgment  of  our  predecessors,  and 
approved  by  a large  majority  of  the  people  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  relation  to  internal  improvement,  the  first  object  is  to  unfold 
the  agricultural  and  mineral  riches  of  the  state,  and  its  immense 
means  of  internal  and  foreign  commerce*  It  was  this  considera- 
tion, which  pressed  itself  upon  the  minds  of  former  legislatures, 
and  which  led  to  the  public  patronage  of  roads,  bridges,  the  Union 
canal,  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  canal,  and  of  many  otherusefui 
works,  and  to  the  actual  commencement  of  the  Pennsylvania 
canal,  with  the  public  funds  The  committee  believe  that  our 
state  has  the  capacity  of  becoming  the  most  productive  in  the 
Union.  In  climate,  in  soil,  in  the  means  of  creating  water  and 
steam  power,  in  the  facility  of  forming  easy  and  cheap  inter-com- 
munications, in  salt,  in  iron,  and  other  mineral  riches,  it  is  not 
surpassed  ; and  in  the  abundance  and  quality  of  coal  it  is  not 
equalled ; and  when  to  these  are  added  the  Delaware,  and  its 
noble  sea-port  on  the  east,  the  Susquehanna,  with  all  its  branches, 
in  the  centre,  and  Pittsburg  on  the  west,  enjoying,  from  the 
hands  of  nature,  twenty  thousand  miles  of  boat  navigation,  and 
matchless  facilities  for  manufactures  ; and  when,  with  these,  we 
combine  Presque  Isle,  with  the  safest  and  finest  harbor  on  lake 
Erie,  they  form  a variety  of  circumstances,  which  distinguish 
Pennsylvania  ?rom  every  part  of  the  globe. 

A moral  and  industrious  people,  possessed  of  such  natural  ad- 
vantages, and  enjoy  ing  the  blessings  of  freedom,  only  require  the 
best  means  of  interior  communication,  to  call  into  useful  activity 
all  the  elements  of  individual  comfort  and  public  prosperity. 

In  this  view  of  the  importance  of  easy  and  cheap  conveyances,' 
we  have  experience  as  a guide.  In  foreign  countries,  in  many  of 
our  sister  states,  and  also  within  our  own  limits,  we  may  see  the 
effects  of  a reduction  in  the  cost  of  carriage.  On  the  Schuylkill, 
and  on  the  Lehigh,  the  improvement*,  though  not  yet  completed, 
have  turned  a wilderness  into  a scene  of  industry  and  wealth. 
Pottsville,  at  the  head  of  the  navigation  of  the  Schuylkill,  doubled 

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its  size  and  population  within  the  last  year.  Mauch  Chunk  con- 
tains nearly  two  thousand  souls,  and  is  rapidly  increasing;  and 
both  towns  have  been  created  by  means  of  the  improvements  in 
the  rivers.  The  farmers  find  an  advantageous  market,  either  on 
the  line  of  canal,  or  in  the  sea  port  of  our  own  state.  Forty- 
seven  thousand  tons  of  coal  were,  during  the  past  year,  carried 
to  Philadelphia.  Commodities,  of  all  kinds,  purchased  on  the 
sea  board,  for  the  supply  of  the  interior,  are  conveyed  at  a re- 
duced  cost,  and  in  consequence  of  these  improvements,  a large 
portion  of  our  state  presents  a picture  of  prosperity,  which  con- 
vinces every  intelligent  observer,  that  the  resources  of  Penosyl- 
Vania  can  only  be  fully  developed  by  an  extension  of  similar  im- 
provements to  all  parts  of  the  state 

The  sanction  and  support  which  the  legislature  and  people  of 
New  York  are  now  giving  to  new  canal  projects,  demonstrates 
their  full  conviction  of  the  advantages  to  be  expected.  The  peo- 
ple of  the  counties  on  the  Mohawk  river,  are  petitioning  for  ano- 
ther canal,  to  run  parallel  to  that  which  is  already  constructed.  < 
An  entire  canal  of  sixty  miles  in  length,  from  the  Hudson  to  the 
eastern  border  of  Pennsylvania,  will  be  in  operation  in  the  ensu- 
ing spring,  and  before  the  lapse  of  another  year  will  be  extended 
to  the  Susquehanna-  A canal  of  eighty  miles*  with  inclined 
planes,  and  intended  to  connect  the  waters  of  New  York  with  the 
Lehigh  and  its  coal  mines,  will  be  finished  in  a short  time.  It  is 
indeed  notorious,  that  it  is  among  the  objects  of  New  York,  on 
the  one  side,  and  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  on  the  other,  to  en- 
counter serious  obstacles,  and  a heavy  expenditure,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  extracting  a portion  of  our  agricultural  and  mineral  rich- 
es. It  would  be  a preposterous  policy  in  us,  with  our  ample  fiscal 
means,  and  with  the  certain  prospect  of  productive  tolls,  to  ne- 
glect the  improvement  of  the  heart  of  the  state,  and  the  full  de- 
velopement  of  all  our  internal  resources,  when  prospective  neigh- 
bours can  discover  the  advantage  of  extracting  wealth  from  our 

y borders  by  similar  improvements. 

Another  consideration  which  presents  itself  to  the  view  of  the 
committee,  is  the  preservation  of  the  transit  trade  between  the 
east  and  the  west.  Previous  to  the  year  which  has  just  elapsed, 
the  intercourse  of  the  west  through  New  York,  was  more  expen- 
sive than  through  our  own  state  Our  situation  is  now  changed. 
The  Erie  canal  has  connected  the  Hudson  with  Lake  Erie,  and  in 
a short  time  the  Ohio  canal  will  connect  the  same  waters  with 
the  extensive  vale  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio.  One  hundred 
and  eighty-three  miles  of  the  Ohio  canal  will  be  finished  early  in 
the  summer  of  next  year,  which  will  be  an  extension  of  the 
Erie  canal  through  the  heart  of  the  state  of  Ohio. 

The  distance  from  New  York  to  the  town  of  Erie,  by  water 
conveyance,  is  not  less  than  six  hundred  miles,  and  commodities 
which  pay  a heavy  toll,  are  transported  from  one  point  to  the 
other,  at  1 12£  cents  per  hundred.  The  carriage  from  our  commer- 
cial capital,  to  the  same  point,  (a  distance  of  only  three  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  miles,)  is  never  less  than  from  three  and  a half  to 


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four  dollars.  The  same  difference  in  the  cost  of  transporflon  is 
true  in  relation  to  anv  othvr  point' on  laS'e  Erie.  ft  wil!  he  per- 
ceived that  if  from  False  economy  we  re'use  to  advance  in  our 
career  of  improvement,  New  York  will,  after  the  completion  of 
the  great  canal,  now  constructing  in  the  stare  of  Ohio,  furnish  the 
whole  of  the  west  with  merchandise,  and  receive  its  products  in 
return  Our  sagacious  neighbor  will  have  secured  to  herself  the 
whole  of  the  transit  trade  between  the  east  and  the  west,  which 
has  heretofore  passed  through  and  enriched  Pennsylvania.  As 
the  pack  horse  gave  placfe  to  the  waggon,  the  waggon  wilt  give 
place  to  the  boat,and  we  must  either  create  a highway  upon  which 
one  horse  will  perform  the  labor  of  forty  horses  upon  a turnpike, 
or  we  can  no  longer  furnish  the  avenues  by  which  trade  and 
Wealth  will  flow  from  one  extremity  of  the  state  to  the  other. 

The  committee  will  ask  the  attention  of  the  House  to  the 
interesting  fact,  that  a few  years  ago,  the  trade  of  lake  Erie 
required  but  two  or  three  small  sloops,  and  that  during  the 
last  year,  (the  first  year  after  the  completion  of  the  Erie  canal,) 
six  steam  boats  and  nearly  otie  hundred  coasting  vessels  were  em- 
ployed upon  the  lake  by  the  trade  which  exists  between  New 
Yorkand  different  points  on  that  inland  sea  This  fact  enables  us 
to  form  a satisfactory  judgment  as  to  the  resultof  our  situation, 
if  we  determine  to  remain  stationary.  Not  only  the  trade  of 
the  growing  states  of  the  west  will  have  been  wrested  from 
us,  but  the  social  and  commercial  connection  between  the 
eastern  and  western  parts  of  our  own  state,  will  cease;  the 
foundation  of  the  s}7stem  which  holds  the  counties  together 
will  be  shaken;  there  wil  1 exist  no  common  interest;  and 
though  the  map  may  not  diminish  in  size,  and  the  Represen- 
tatives may  annually  meet  and  contend  in  the  capitol,  one  part 
of  the  land  of  William  Penn  will  be  virtually  disjoined  from 
the  other. 

The  committee  will  further  remark,  that  upon  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  canal  policy  rests  the  prosperity  of  our  commercial 
city,  and  the  preservation  and  increase  of  the  large  revenues 
derived  from  that  city;  revenues  which  relieve  the  land  of  the 
farmer  from  state  taxes. 

All  the  money  which  flows  into  the  public  treasury  from 
Philadephia  is  but  the  secretion  from  a healthy  and  vigorous 
commerce.  If  the  commerce  of  the  city  is  fed  and  nourished 
by  flourishing  interior  counties,  it  will  grow  and  always  re- 
plenish the  coffers  of  the  state.  The  Auction  duties  of  the  city 
of  New  York  amounted  last  year  to  $233,401  ; an  annual 
sum,  which,  at  the  market  rate  of  interest,  would  be  equal  to  a 
capital  of  five  millions  of  dollars.  Under  a wise  government, 
Philadelphia  will  soon  be  the  exporting  city  of  the  whole  com- 
monwealth, and  also  the  chief  exporting  city  of  the  most 
populous  and  richest  of  the  states  of  the  west — emphatically 
styled  rising  empires:  and  whose  exports,  in  1825,  amounted 
to  twenty-three  millions  of  dollars.  This  result  would  rapid- 
ly increase  the  auction  duties,  the  bank  dividends,  and  all  the 


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other  sources  of  revenue  derived  from  Philadelphia,  and 
which  even  now  exceed  the  annual  sum  of  8300,000.  But  if 
the  canal  policy  is  relinquished,  the  picture  will  be  reversed: 
the  mineral  wealth  of  the  state  will  be,  in  a great  degree,  dor- 
mant: agriculture  will  languish;  manufactures  will  want  an 
enlivening  impulse;  a portion  of  the  farmers,  mechanics  and 
laborers  will  emigrate ; ‘he  merchant  who  searches  the  world 
lor  a market  f ir  the  products  of  the  held,  the  mine  and  the 
workshop,  will  seek  a more  advantageous  theatre  for  his  en- 
terprise: he  will  find  at  New  York  better  facilities  for  produ- 
cing wealth,  and  the  same  benign  laws  for  its  protection;  he 
will  carry  with  him  his  capital,  skill  and  industry,  and  also  the 
arts  and  improvements  to  which  capital  is  a stimulus : and  as 
the  riches  oi  a city  expand  themselves  over  and  fertilize  the 
country  in  its  immediate  neighborhood,  the  decay  of  the  city 
will  be  the  decay  of  Montgomery  and  other  adjoining  coun- 
ties; and  the  copious  and  perennial  stream  of  riches  which 
flows  from  the  city  into  the  public  treasury,  and  relieves  from 
taxation  the  farm  and  the  workshop,  will  be  diverted  into 
other  channels. 

Another  view,  in  relation  to  the  policy  of  the  measures  con- 
templated by  the  bill,  is,  that  the  improvements  cannot  require 
^ oppressive  taxation.  They  will  pay  for  themselves,  and,  in  a 

1 few  years,  furnish  a revenue  which  may  be  applied  to  educa- 

tion and  other  useful  objects.  In  the  present  bill,  it  is  proposed 
to  appropriate  twelve  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which,  if  ad- 
ded to  the  sum  appropriated  by  the  last  Legislature,  will 
v amount  to  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars ; the  inte- 
rest of  which  will  be  about  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  a year. 
It  is  within  the  province  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means, 
to  state  what  will  be  the  probable  amount  of  the  revenue  which 
will  be  produced  by  the  various  expedients  adopted  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a canal  fund.  It  is  however  believed  that 
S it  will  be  satisfactorily  shown  that  those  expedients  will  be 
more  than  adequate  to  the  payment  of  the  interest,  and  the 
speedy  redemption  of  the  principal  of  the  debt  now  proposed 
to  be  incurred,  and,  with  the  tolls  which  may  reasonably  be 
hereafter  expected,  will  produce  a sinking  fund  adequate  to 
extinguish  whatever  debt  may  be  incurred  for  the  completion 
of  all  the  improvements  in  contemplation. 

In  regard  to  the  amount  of  tolls  which  will  accrue  from  the 
canals,  the  committee  conceive  they  may  illustrate  and  sustain 
their  position,  by  the  experience  not  only  of  Europe,  wherev- 
er canals  are  judiciously  located,  but  also  of  our  sister  New 
York,  who,  with  far  inferior  advantages,  has  demonstrated  the 
profitableness  of  canals,  considered  merely  in  relation  to  the 
tolls  they  produce.  In  the  year  which  has  just  elapsed,  (the 
first  year  since  the  completion  of  the  canals,)  the  tolls  amount- 
ed to  seven  hundred  and  seventy-one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighty  dollars  ; which,  if  the  interest  of  the  money  be  rated 
at  five  per  cent,  is  equivalent  to  a capital  ol  fifteen  millions 


1 


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four  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  six  hundred  dollars.  It 
from  the  tolls  we  deduct  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
superintendence  and  repairs,  the  balance  will  be  equal  to  the 
interest  on  thirteen  millions  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  thou- 
sand six  hundred  dollars.  The  largest  portion  of  this  great  in- 
come was  derived  from  the  carriage  of  the  productions  of  the 
state  of  New  York  ; and  this  interesting  fact  clearly  proves, 
that  the  tonnage  of  a country,  through  which  a canal  flows, 
may  pay  the  expense  of  its  construction,  even  without  the  aid 
of  coal,  iron  or  other  rich  mineral  treasures.  The  New  York 
canal  commissioners  (whose  predictions  have  hitherto  been 
confirmed  by  experience)  sav,  in  their  official  report,  that  the 
Erie  canal  may  give  a revenue,  in  one  year,  of  more  than  nine 
millions  of  dollars. 

The  committee  are  fully  persuaded,  that  the  present  saving  of 
the  few  millions  of  dollars  proposed  to  beexpended,  (all  of  which 
will  be  spent  in  the  purchase  of  our  own  materials,  and  in  the 
employment  of  our  own  labor,)  will  involve  the  loss  of  a 
trade,  which,  before  the  lapse  of  many  years,  would  annually 
enrich  the  state  to  an  amount  equal  to  the  whole  of  the  ori- 
ginal cost.  It  is  not  necessary  to  indulge  in  conjecture,  or  to 
pourtray  the  scenes  of  wealth  and  grandeur  which  would  be 
the  result  of  the  contemplated  improvements ; but  it  cannot  be 
too  often  impressed  upon  the  public  mind,  that  the  tolls  on 
the  New  York  canals,  in  the  first  year  after  their  completion, 
amounted  to  50  per  cent,  more  than  the  market  rate  of  inte- 
rest on  the  capital  expended,  and  that  every  intelligent  man 
in  that  state  now  believes,  that,  in  a few  years,  the  canals  will 
have  paid  for  themselves,  and  afterwards  be  the  means  not  only 
of  relieving  the  people  from  taxation,  but  of  promoting  education, 
patronising  science  and  advancing  the  general  happiness. 

It  may  not  be  irrelevant  to  state,  that  it  is  alleged  by  the 
United  States’  board  of  internal  improvement,  that,  at  the 
present  time,  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons  are  consid- 
ered as  a fair  estimate  of  exports  made  to  New  Orleans  and 
to  the  Atlantic  ports  from  the  districts  peculiarly  interested 
in  the  completion  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal,  which, 
like  the  Pennsylvania  canal,  it  is  proposed  to  extend  to  Pitts- 
burg, the  manufacturing  emporium  of  the  west.  To  this  ton- 
nage must  be  added  that  of  the  return  trade.  Nearly 
the  whole  of  this  trade,  it  is  confidently  believed,  would 
seek  an  Atlantic  port  if  the  chain  of  mountains  separating  the 
east  from  the  west,  were  broken  down  by  the  improvements 
in  contemplation.  Some  of  the  facts  on  which  the  committee 
found  this  opinion,  are,  the  distance  of  New  Orleans;  the  risks 
of  the  navigation  ; the  climate,  which  is  destructive  to  many  of 
the  products  and  dangerous  to  health  and  life ; the  want  of 
commercial  capital,  which  renders  prices  uncertain  and  always 
lower  than  in  the  great  Atlantic  cities;  and  the  necessity  of 
taking  advantage  of  freshets,  which  presses  large  quantities  of 


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products  in  the  same  market,  at  the  same  time,  and  produces  a 
glut. 

The  foregoing  estimate,  as  to  tonnage,  does  not  seem  unrea- 
sonable, as  it  is  stated,  upon  credible  authority,  that  in  one 
year  twenty  thousand  tons  of  the  products  of  the  country  were 
shipped  by  steam  boats  from  Louisville  New  Orleans, 
and  that  about  five  thousand  flat  boats,  averaging  nearly  forty 
tons  each,  in  the  same  year  passed  the  falls  of  Ohio,  laden  with 
produce  in  search  of  a market. 

The  greatness  of  the  commercial  emporium,  and  the  supe- 
riority of  the  market  on  the  Delaware,  contrasted  with  the 
seaports  on  the  Chesapeake,  or  any  of  the  seaports  ofthe  south, 


our  route  will  be  shorter  and  less  interrupted  by  ice.  When 
besides  this  advantage  we  consider  the  superior  productiveness 
of  the  country  through  which  the  Pennsylvania  canals  will 
flow ; the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Susquehanna,  in  their  present 
cultivation,  sending  annually  to  market  products  to  the  amount 
of  nearly  four  millions  of  dollars;  the  extent  to  which  the 
manufacture  of  salt  may  be  carried ; the  immense  masses  of 
coal ; the  beds  of  iron  ore,  the  most  precious  of  metals,  and 
which  would  be  converted  into  all  its  artificial  forms ; the  new 
mineral  wealth  which  will  be  discovered  by  means  of  the 
geological  and  mineralogical  survey  now  contemplated;  and 
when  we  further  consider  the  numerous  branch  canals  and  aux- 
iliary rail  roads;  which  would  soon  be  constructed,  it  will  be 
perceived  that  the  tonnage  on  the  Pennsylvania  route  will  he 
of  vast  magnitude,  and  greater  than  that  which  will  ever  pass 
upon  any  other  route  between  the  eastern  and  western  waters. 
If  then  we  assume  that  after  the  completion  of  the  works,  the 
total  of  the  tonnage  of  the  descending  trade  will  be  but  two  hun- 
dred thousand  tons,  which  is  but  little  more  than  the  present  ton- 
nage on  the  Susquehanna  ; and  if  we  compute  the  tolls  at  an 
average  sum  of  one  cent  per  ton  a mile,  for  a mean  distance  of 
three  hundred  miles,  it  will  give  an  annual  sum  of  55600,000 

From  which,  if  we  make  the  ample  deduction  of 
20  per  cent,  for  repairs  and  superintendence,  say  120,000 

There  will  be  an  annual  revenue  of  8480,000 

for  the  descending  trade  alone,  even  without  any  further  in- 
crease of  our  trade,  wealth  and  population.  This  sum  will  pay 
the  interest  on  ten  millions  of  dollars.  In  the  above  estimate, 
the  profits  which  must  arise  on  the  whole  of  the  return  trade,  or 
on  all  the  boats  which  will  pass  from  east  to  west,  are  not  at  all 
taken  into  account  To  form  an  opinion  of  the  probable  extent 
of  this  return  trade,  we  need  only  refer  to  the  fact,  that  it  has 
been  ascertained  that  more  than  one  million  of  dollars  have  been 
paid  for  many  years  in  succession,  for  carrying  commodities 
from  the  Atlantic  ports  to  the  western  waters. 


Tlie  committee  do  hot  conceive  it  necessary  to  bring  into  view 
all  the  facts  which  have  been  ascertained  in  relation  to  the  trade 
that  passes  on  our  roads,  and  on  our  noble  rivers  and  their  bran* 
\ j£nes,  all  of  which  would  feel  the  vivifying  influence  of  the  con- 
templated  improvements.  It  is  believed  that  the  people  and  their 
representatives  are*  fully  convinced,  that  (even  if  the  state  were 
to  derive  no  advantage  from  the  employment  and  the  reward  of 
the  labour  and  skill  which  will  be  necessary  for  the  construction 
of  the  improvements;  or  from  the  wealth  which  will  be  created 
by  the  increased  value  of  the  coal,  the  iron,  the  salt,  and  other 
substances,  in  the  districts  through  which  the  canals  will  pass,) 
the  prosecution  of  the  great  works  would  be  expedient,  from  the 
certainty  of  their  future  profitableness,  considered  as  more  sour- 
ces of  revenue  to  the  government. 

The  next  proposition  which  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  committee 
to  sustain,  is  that  the  contemplated  improvements  will  enliven  the 
great  roads  of  the  state,  and  render  productive  the  vast  amount 
of  stock  in  turnpikes  and  bridges,  (which  has  been  computed  at 
ten  millions  ot  dollars,)  and  of  which  the  state  owns  more  than 
two  millions  of  dollars. 

A full  development  of  our  resources  will  give  fertility  and  popu- 
lation to  the  barren  districts,  and  spread  agriculture,  manufactures 
and  commerce  over  the  whole  state, embracing  twenty  nine  millions 
of  acres.  One  of  the  results  of  this  general  prosperity  will  be  an 
active  intercourse  between  the  various  parts  of  our  commonwealth, 
and  a vast  increase  upon  the  roads  and  bridges  of  those  vehicles 
which  pay  toll  without  wearing  out  the  road.  A large  share  of 
the  profits  may  then  be  divided  among  the  stockholders,  instead  of 
being  absorbed  by  the  expense  of  repairs.  The  experience  of 
others  may  here  be  a safe  guide.  In  New  York  many  of  the  tav- 
ernkeepers  on  turnpike  roads,  and  of  the  proprietors  of  stock,  re- 
monstrated against  the  canal  as  injurious  to  their  interests,  but 
time  has  dissipated  their  (ears.  Heavy  commodities  (which  be- 
fore the  construction  of  canals  were  carried  upon  roads,)  are  now 
carried  by  water,  and  multitudes  of  passengers  travel  in  boats  ; 
but  the  travelling  has  also  increased  upon  the  roads,  and  they  now 
exhibit  a more  flourishing  aspect  than  ever. 

Similar  effects  have  been  produced  upon  the  roads  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  improved  water  conveyances  in  our  own  state.  The 
committee  are  informed  that  the  tolls  received  upon  the  turnpike 
which  connects  Mauch  Chunk  with  the  Susquehanna,  were  last 
year  nearly  double  the  usual  amount;  and  it  is  notorious  to  all 
observant  travellers  that  all  the  roads  which  lead  either  from  the 
Susquehanna  or  from  Philadelphia,  to  Mount  Carbon  or  Mauch 
Chunk,  now  exhibit  an  enlivened  aspect. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  refer  to  the  effects  which  canals  have 
had  upon  the  roads  of  England.  That  country,  of  which  the  terri- 
tory is  not  much  greater  than  that  of  Pennsylvania,  has  an  extent 
of  inland  navigation  of  about  3000  miles  ; and  Phillips,  an  emi- 
nent writer  on  inland  navigation,  remarks,  “ the  roads  in  England 
are  continually  full  of  coaches,  chaises,  wagons,,  carts  and  horse- 


/ 


11 

men,  going  to  and  from  the  different  villages,  towns  and  capital 
cities.” 

The  committee  are  fully  persuaded  that  when  the  Pennsylva- 
nia improvements  and  their  auxiliary  branches  are  completed,  the 
owners  of  turnpike  and  bridge  stock  will  be  remunerated  for  their 
public  spirit,  and  the  state  will  have  an  additional  monied  re- 
source in  its  large  amount  of  stock  in  turnpikes  and  bridges. 

In  presenting  general  considerations  in  favor  of  the  canal  policy/ 
the  £yjruttiittee  may  be  allowed  to  advert  to  the  facilities  it  wijkvjs^  ^,.*  V 
hereafter  afford  for  the  construction  of  rail- ways.  Many  intelli- 
gent persons  are  of  opinion  that  from  the  immense  field  for  pro- 
ductive industry  and  active  labor  presented  by  Pennsylvania,  and 
from  the  magnitude  of  the  future  trade  between  the  sea  port  of 
our  state  and  the  great  and  growing  country  of  the  west,  rail- 
roads will  hereafter  be  constructed  parallel  to  our  leading  canals. 

The  experience  of  Great  Britain  demonstrates  that  rail-roads  will 
be  atleast  expedient  in  particular  districts  of  Pennsylvania,  where 
canals  are  not  practicable,  and  that  they  will  form  good  collateral 
branches  of  communication  to  canals. 

Besides  many  that  are  projected,  the  construction  of  one  from 
Columbia  to  Philadelphia,  and  of  another  from  Danville  to  Mount 
Carbon,  and  some  others  of  less  extent,  are  already  authorised  by 
by  law.  It  is  also  believed  that  the  canals  which  are  advancing 
from  the  east  and  from  the  west  to  the  base  of  the  Allegheny,  will 
hereafter  be  connected  by  means  of  this  useful  improvement.  It 
is  then  the  part  of  wisdom  to  inquire  how  far  canals  will  assist  in 
the  accomplishment  of  this  great  object. 

Iron  is  the  chief  and  most  expensive  material  in  the  construc- 
tion of  rail-ways.  In  the  western  and  middle  parts  of  our  state, 
the  improvements  in  contemplation  will  bring  together  the  iron 
ore  and  coal  fit  for  coaking  and  smelting,  by  which  the  manufac- 
tured metal  may  be  increased  to  any  extent.  As  regards  the  fa- 
cility of  making  iron  in  our  eastern  counties,  the  committee  will 
quote  the  language  of  William  M’Clure,  an  experienced  traveller 
of  high  reputation  for  science.  It  is  found  in  a late  number  of 
Silliman’s  Journal  of  Sciences.  “ The  beds  or  strata  of  coal,” 
says  Mr.  M’Clure,  “being  inclined  at  a pretty  high  angle  from 
the  horison,  may  all  be  wrought  by  subterranean  canals.  The 
hills  which  at  present,  by  the  carriage  on  the  surface,  are  the 
cause  of  much  expense,  may,  by  canals  following  the  beds,  be 
worked  every  where  above  the  water  level,  at  little  or  no  expense, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  whole  field  will  be  effectually  drained; 
an  advantage  that  few  or  no  coal  fields  in  Europe  enjoy,  and  from 
which  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater  has  derived  great  profits.  This 
immense  formation  of  anthracite  will  render  this  state  the  most 
productive  in  the  Union  ; for  as  soon  as  they  can  contrive  a good 
mode  of  smelting  iron  ore  with  the  anthracite,  this  will  become 
one  of  the  greatest  iron  countries  on  the  globe,  because,  having  so 
much  fine  magnetic  iron  ore,  and  the  natural  state  of  the  combus- 
tible rendering  it  capable  of  producing  a very  strong  heat  without 

! 


12 


any  preparation  of  coaking  or  adulterating  with  any  mixture  in- 
jurious to  the  making  of  iron. — Those  circumstances  constitute  so 
many  advantages  as  are  scarcely  to  be  met  with  in  any  locality  as 
yet  known.” 

It  was  ascertained  in  England,  by  the  agent  of  the  Pennsylva- 
nia society  for  the  promotion  of  internal  improvement,  that  two 
hundred  tons  of  iron  castings  will  be  required  for  each  mile  of 
/ ''"^double  rail-way,  on  the  best  construction,  which,  for  an  extent 

QJLsIAa41,Vl* of  500  miles,  would  amount  to  100,000  tons.  Such  a *M*iwfc*vilj[ 
always  raise  the  market  price.  Even  in  England,  where  400,000 
tons  are  annually  manufactured,  the  efforts  to  make  rail  roads 
two  years  ago,  doubled  the  price  of  iron.  Let  us  assume  that 
the  price  of  iron  castings  would  be  reduced  twenty  dollars  a ton, 
in  consequence  of  the  vast  increase  of  iron  works,  which  will  be 
the  natural  result  of  the  facility  which  canals  give  in  making  iron, 
and  in  finding  a market  for  it  when  made.  The  saving  then  on 
one  hundred  thousand  tons  would  be  two  millions  of  dollars. 
Let  us  also  assume  that  in  the  construction  of  rail  ways,  the 
mean  distance  of  the  transportation  of  the  iron  from  the  furnace 
to  the  place  where  it  is  wanted,  would  be  75  miles ; the  difference 
then  between  land  and  canal  conveyance,  would  not,  at  any  time, 
be  much  less  than  one  million  of  dollars.  Under  these  views, 
which  are  believed  to  be  correct,  the  construction  of  rail  ways 
would  be  facilitated  by  means  of  canals,  and  the  expense  of  ma- 
king five  hundred  miles,  in  different  parts  of  the  state,  would  be 
reduced  about  three  millions  of  dollars. 

The  committee  are  aware  of  the  opinion  entertained  by  many 
respectable  persons,  that  the  great  amount  of  lockage  on  the 
canals  in  Pennsylvania,  will  prevent  their  coming  into  success- 
ful competition  with  New  York  for  the  trade  of  the  west.  This 
opinion,  it  is  believed,  ia  founded  on  error.  That  Pennsylvania, 
whether  by  the  West  Branch  or  Juniata  route,  has  a great  advan- 
tage as  respects  distance  is  conceded.  Cheapness  of  construc- 
tion, the  result  of  progressive  science,  and  a climate  which  will 
open  the  navigation  earlier,  and  keep  it  open  later,  are  other  signal 
advantages;  and  the  committee  will  refer  to  the  scientific  report 
of  the  board  of  engineers  of  the  United  States  for  internal  im- 
provement, ('communicated  during  the  present  session  by  the 
President  to  congress,)  which  contains  a demonstration  that  the 
Pennsylvania  canal,  if  constructed  with  proper  dimensions  of  the 
cross  section,  will  compensate  by  the  less  resistance  the  boats  will 
encounter  on  the  levels,  for  the  delay  caused  by  so  great  an 
amount  of  lockage. 

“ The  cross  section  of  a canal,  (say  the  United  States  engi- 
neers,) ougut  to  be,  with  moderate  velocities,  6.46  times  the 
cross  section  of  the  boat,  and  the  water  line  4£  times  the  breadth 
of  the  boat.”  It  is  clearly  shown,  from  actual  experiment,  that 
on  a canal  with  all  our  lockage,  if  the  width  is  48  and  the  depth 
5 feet,  the  same  tonnage  may  be  transported  in  less  time,  with 
less  power,  and  therefore  with  less  cost,  than  on  a canal  of  the 


13 


same  length  and  with  the  same  proportion  of  lockage,  as  exists 
on  the  New  York  canal,  but  having  (as  that  canal  has)  a depth  of 
> only  four  feet  and  a width  of  forty  feet.  Under  these  views,  the 
committee  (confident  that  the  commissioners  will  profit  by  the 
advantage  which  experience  in  canalling  gives  us)  are  persuaded 
that  the  improvements  in  contemplation  cannot  fail  in  preserving 
the  rich  transit  trade  between  the  east  and  the  west  for  the  bene- 
fit of  Pennsylvania. 

The  committee  consider  k at  our  statutes  already  have  recog- 
nised the  policy  of,  and  pledgehsthe  faith  of  the  state  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  easiest  and  cheapest  communications  from  the 
Swatara,  through  Lancaster  and  Chester  counties,  to  the  Dela- 
ware  from  Harrisburg  to  the  Potomac,  through  Cumberland  and 

Franklin  counties — from  the  Juniata  to  the  Youghiogheny — and 
from  Pittsburg  to  lake  Erie.  In  the  opinion  of  the  committee, 
the  best  communication  should  also  be  made  from  Carpenter’s 
Point,  where  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  canal  intersects  our  riv- 
er, to  Easton,  and  from  thence  to  Philadelphia.  This  subject 
has  been  referred  by  a special  resolution,  and  the  canal  commis- 
sioners have  since  recommended  examinations,  with  a view  to  the 
same  improvement.  The  committee  have  therefore  provided  for 
surveys  and  examinations  upon  the  Delaware,  and  have  further 
^ provided  for  commencing  active  operations  to  a limited  extent, 
1 if  an  uninterrupted  navigable  communication  should  be  found  of 
easy  and  cheap  construction.  It  is  the  policy  of  Pennsylvania 
to  preserve  the  trade  of  the  Delaware  within  her  own  limits,  and 
to  counteract  the  efforts  of  New  York  to  divert  it  into  new 
? channels.  The  completion  of  this  work  will  open  a direct  water 
communication  with  the  Hudson  and  with  the  interior  of  New 
York  and  the  western  part  of  Vermont,  and  before  the  lapse  of 
many  months,  the  communication  will  be  extended  by  improve- 
ments, now  in  progress,  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Susquehanna, 
and  to  the  Erie  canal.  Taking  into  view  not  only  the  agricultural 
f products  of  the  Delaware,  but  the  extensive  coal  mines  on  its 
branches,  the  future  profitableness  of  this  improvement  is  too  ob- 
vious to  need  illustration. 

Every  object  embraced  within  the  bill  annexed  to  this  report, 
(with  a single  exception, ) has  the  unanimous  sanction  of  a board 
of  commissioners,  selected  from  the  various  sections  of  the  com- 
monwealth. The  bill  does  indeed  assume,  that  with  a becoming- 
energy,  a greater  extent  of.  the  line  may  be  contracted  for  within 
the  present  year,  than  was  in  the  contemplation  of  the  commis- 
sioners This,  however,  must  be  left  entirely  to  the  discretion 
and  responsibility  of  the  board.  Neither  the  government  nor  the 
people  can  enjoy  all  the  advantages,  until  the  works  are  fully 
completed,  and  our  position  as  respects  New  York,  creates  a ne- 
cessity of  extraordinary  exertion. 

The  part  of  the  work  which  has  not,  at  present,  the  approbation 
of  the  board,  consists  in  the  extension  of  the  canal  from  the  Bald 
Eagle  to  the  mouth  of  the  Sinnemahoning,  an  extent  of  about 
forty  miles.  Some  years  must  elapse  before  active  operations 


14 


can  be  commenced  upon  this  part  of  the  line  ; and  if  it  should 
then  pass  through  a wilderness,  it  will  accommodate  many  mil- 
lions of  acres  capable  of  cultivation,  and  abounding  with  rich 
minerals.  Under  the  genius  of  freedom,  the  deserts  of  our  coun- 
try are  made  to  blossom.  Thirty  years  ago  the  state  of  Ohio, 
(now  animated  by  a million  of  human  beings,)  was  a wilderness  ; 
and  if  the  land  to  be  benefited  by  this  extension  of  the  canal,  is 
- not  now  inhabited,  the  improvement  will  bring  people,  and  infuse 
theesil  of  industry  and  commerce  ; — it  will  create  buildings  and 
settlements,  and  the  wilderness  will  be  sown  and  become  a fruit- 
ful place.  If,  in  some  parts  of  the  state,  the  improvements  are 
the  effects  of  population  and  wealth,  here  let  them  be  the  produ- 
cers of  population  and  wealth. 

The  committee  will  conclude  by  imploring  the  House  to  main- 
tain the  interest  and  honor  of  the  state,  by  a vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  canal  system  commenced  by  the  last  Legislature.  The 
most  strenuous  opposers  of  internal  improvement  must  admit  that 
there  has  been  no  precipitance  of  judgment,  and  that  we  have 
now  all  the  informal  ion  which  is  necessary  to  a wise  and  safe 
legislation.  The  subject  lias  been  fully  considered  by  the  legis- 
lature and  the  people.  The  guarantee  by  the  state  of  an  interest 
to  the  subscribers  of  the  Union  canal  company,  awakened  and  for 
many  years  has  fixed  public  attention  upon  artificial  canals.  For 
ten  successive  years,  bills  relating  to  the  construction  of  a state 
canal,  for  the  purpose  of  connecting  the  eastern  and  western  wa- 
ters, have  been  introduced  and  argued  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, Three  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  first  board  of 
canal  commissioners  was  created,  and  the  examinations  of  Messrs. 
Hoigate,  Clarke  and  Trcziyulney,  demonstrated  the  practicability 
of  canals  at  least  as  far  as  the  base  of  the  Allegheny  mountains. 
The  examinations  under  the  present  board  of  canal  commissioners, 
aided  by  practical  engineers  of  long  experience  and  of  tire  highest 
qualifications,  have  removed  doubts  from  the  minds  of  the  most 
sceptical. 

To  all  this  it  may  be  added  that  the  Legislature  of  last  year, 
after  a solemn  consideration,  began  the  works,  and  the  [com- 
mittee believe  thatnothingbut  a conviction  of  their  impracticability 
or  our  incapacity  to  provide  the  means  for  their  execution,  can 
now  justify  a relinquishment  or  a delay,  and  the  consequent  sup- 
pression of  the  active  spirit  of  improvement  whifch  distinguishes 
the  state.  We  may  now  safely  appeal  to  the  magnanimity  even 
of  those  who  last  year  entertained  doubts  as  to  the  expediency  of 
the  measure.  The  well  earned  reputation  of  Pennsylvania  for 
liberality,  patriotism  and  political  wisdom,  her  pride  as  the  coun- 
try of  Penn  and  Franklin,  and  of  Fulton,  who  early  saw  the  path 
of  prosperity  and  urged  the  policy  of  constructing  canals  through 
the  state  which  gave  him  birth ; indeed  all  the  high  and  animating 
impulses  of  the  human  heart  press  her  now  forward  in  the  career 
of  internal  improvement.  Are  we  from  a perverted  economy, and 
regardless  of  the  march  of  events  and  the  change  of  circumstan- 
ces, to  go  backwards  while  neighbors  and  rivals  are  advancing 


) 


15 


and  calling  their  dormant  riches  into  useful  activity,  and  are 
about  to  encompass  our  state  with  improvements  which  will  afford 
facilities  for  transportingthe  products  on  our  borders  to  their  own 
commercial  capitals?  If  such  is  our  determination,  we  shall  soon 
be  deprived  of  a large  share  of  our  population  and  of  our  active  capi- 
tal. We  shall  pursue  a policy  which  will  cause  us  to  be  trodden 
down,  while  a wiser  rule  vvonld  lift  us  to  nobler  heights,  and  sup- 
port the  rank  to  which,  by  the  bounty  of  Heaven,  we  are  entitled 
among  the  members  of  our  illustrious  republic.  We  shall  betray 
our  high  trust  and  fail  in  performing  the  duty  due  to  our  fathers,  to 
ourselves  and  to  posterity.  The  act  providing  for  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Pennsylvania  canal  will  stand  upon  our  statutes  as  a 
monument  of  our  shame,  and  as  in  mockery  of  the  wishes  and  in- 
terests of  the  people,  and  we  shall  prove  ourselves  unworthy  oc- 
cupiers of  the  seats  once  possessed  by  the  patriots  and  statesmen 
who  founded  and  reared  our  commonwealth. 


An  act  to  provide  for  the  further  extension  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania canal. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  Home  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania , in  General  Assem- 
bly met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same , That 
the  board  of  canal  commissioners  are  hereby  authorised  and  re- 
quired in  behalf  of  this  state,  as  speedily  as  may  be,  to  locate 
and  contract  for  making  canals  and  locks-,  and  other  works  ne- 
cessary thereto,  from  the  eastern  section  of  the  Pennsylvania 
canal,  to  a point  at  or  near  Frankstown,  on  the  Juniata  ; and  to  a 
point  at  or  near  the  New  York  state  line,  on  the  North  Branch 
of  the  Susquehanna  ; and  also  to  a point  at  or  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Sinnemahoning,  on  the  West  Branch  ; and  further  to  extend 
the  western  section  of  the  Pennsylvania  canal,  to  a point  at  os- 
near  Johnstown,  on  the  Conemaugh  : Provided , that  before  con- 
tracting for  any  other  parts  of  the  aforesaid  routes,  they  shall  pre- 
viously contract  for  such  parts  as  will  connect  the  eastern  sec- 
tion with  a point  at  or  near  Lewistown,  on  the  Juniata ; and  with 
a point  at  or  near  the  Muncy  ripples,  on  the  West  Branch  ; and 
with  a point  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Fishing  creek,  on  the  North 
Branch ; and  with  a point  at  or  near  Blairsville,  on  the  Cone- 
maugh. 

Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid , 
That  the  sum  of  one  million  of  dollars  be  and  the  same  is  hereby 
appropriated,  to  be  paid  by  the  state  treasurer,  in  such  sums  as 
shall  be  required  for  the  execution  of  the  work,  which  sums  shall, 
horn  time  to  time,  be  paid  into  the  hands  of  the  acting  canal 
commissioner  or  commissioners,  by  direction  of  a majority  of  the 
board,  and  by  warrant  of  the  Governor,  subject  to  the  provisions 


16 


ofr  the  5th  section  of  the  act,  entitled  u An  act  to  provide  for  the 
commencement  of  a canal  to  be  constructed  at  the  expense  of  the 
state,  and  to  be  styled  the  Pennsylvania  canal.” 

Section  3..  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid. 
That  the  board  of  canal  commissioners  are  authorised  and  required 
to  commence  operations  on  the  feeder  from  French  creek  to  the 
summit  level  at  Conneaut  lake,  and  to  contract  for  so  much  as 
may  be  adapted  to  either  of  the  routes  in  contemplation,  for  the 
purpose  of  connecting  the  Pennsylvania  canal  with  lake  Erie,  and 
the  further  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  is  hereby  appro- 
priated to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  this  section,  to  be 
paid  in  like  manner  as  is  prescribed  in  the  2nd  section  of  this  act. 
And  the  said  commissioners  shall  cause  an  examination  to  be  made 
from  the  mouth  of  French  creek,  bv  way  of' Waterford,  to  the 
bay  of  Presque  Isle  ; and  from  Conneaut  lake  to  lake  Erie  ; and 
also  from  Pittsburg,  by  way  of  Beaver  and  Shenango,  to  Conneaut 
lake. 

Section  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid. 
That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners  to 
cause  suitable  examinations  to  be  made  in  relation  to  the  construc- 
tion of  a smooth  road,  with  an  easy  graduation,  and  also  in  rela- 
tion to  the  construction  of  a rail  way,  with  either  locomotive  or 
stationary  engines,  for  the  purpose  of  passing  the  summit  between 
the  Juniata  and  the  Conemaugh  ; and  they  shall  also  cause  fur- 
ther examinations  to  be  made,  with  a view  of  ascertaining  the 
practicability  and  cost  of  an  entire  waetr  come  unication  be- 
tween the  West  branch  of  the  Susquehanna  and  a branch  of  the 
Allegheny. 

Section  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid. 
That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners  to 
cause  examinations,  surveys  and  estimates  to  be  made  in  the 
natural  channel,  or  along  the  valley  of  the  Delaware,  from  Phila- 
delphia to  Carpenter’s  point,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the 
most  eligible  mode  of  effecting  a navigable  communication,  and 
the  said  commissioners  shall  report  in  like  manner  as  is  directed 
by  law  in  relation  to  other  canal  routes.  And  whereas , the  state 
of  New  York  has  adopted  effectual  measures  for  securing  within  a 
short  time  the  completion  of  two  navigable  canals  from  the  Dela- 
ware to  the  Hudson,  and  it  is  of  high  importance  to  Pennsylvania 
that  the  trade  of  the  Delaware  should  be  retained  within  her 
limits. 

Therefore, 

Section  6.  Be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid , That 
if  after  suitable  examinations  by  competent  engineers,  it  should  ap- 
pear to  the  board  of  canal  commissioners,  that  the  average  cost  of 
constructing  an  uninterrupted  navigable  communication  between 
a point  at  or  near  to  Carpenter’s  point  and  Philadelphia  will  not 
be  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars  per  mile,  and  that  it  can  be 
constructed  in  the  valley  and  fed  by  streams  within  the  state ; then 


with  the  consent  of  the  Governor,  a portion  of  said  navigable  Com- 
munication may  be  located  and  contracted  for,  and  tne  further 
sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  is  hereby  appropriated  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  aforesaid  object,  to  be  paid  in  like  man- 
ner as  is  provided  in  the  tenth  section  of  this  act. 

Section  7.  Jind  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid , 
That  if  any  person  shall  consider  him$eif  aggrieved,  by  reason  of 
the  canal  passing  through  the  lands, of  which  he  is  owner,  or  by 
interfering  in  any  manner  with  his  rights  of  property,  he  may,  at 
the  completion  of  the  work  thereupon,  or  within  one  year  thereaf- 
ter, petition  the  court  of  quarter  sessions  of  the  county  in  which 
the  damage  has  been  committed,  and  the  said  court  shall  appoint 
five  reputable  citizens  within  the  judicial  district  of  which  the 
said  county  is  a part,  and  not  residing  in,  or  inhabitants  of  the 
said  county*  whose  duty  it  shall  be,  after  being  severally  sworn  or 
affirmed,  to  view  the  premises,  and,  taking  into  consideration  the  ad- 
vantages of  said  canal  to  the  petitioner;  report  such  damage,  if  any, 
as  they,  or  any  three  of  them  shall  think  the  owner  has  sustained 
by  reason  of  said  canal.  And  incase  the  said  viewers  are  of 
opinion  that  the  petitioner  has  received  no  damage,  or  that  the 
advantages  derived  from  the  canal  are  sufficient  compensation  to 
the  petitioner  for  ryiy  injury  sustained  by  him,  they  will  also  re- 
port the  same  to  the  said  court ; for  all  which  services  the  said 
viewers  shall  each  receive  two  dollars  for  every  day  employed,  and 
three  cents  for  each  mile  they  shall  necessarily  travel  in  the  per- 
formance of  9ucli  service  ; the  costs  of  such  proceedings  wherever 
the  viewers  report  no  damage,  shall  be  paid  by  the  petitioner. 
And  upon  the  approbation  of  the  said  court  to  the  report  of  the 
said  viewers,  and  the  certificate  of  the  prothonotary  to  the 
amount,  the  acting  canal  commissioner  shall,  and  he  is  hereby  requi- 
red to  pay  to  the  said  petitioner,  the  full  amount  of  damages  and 
costs  assessed  a3  aforesaid. 

Provided , That  the  petitioner  shall  be  required  to  give  rea- 
sonable notice  to  the  nearest  acting  canal  commissioner,  of  the 
time  and  place,  when  and  where  the  said  viewers  are  to  meet  for 
the  purpose  aforesaid.  Jind  provided  alsot  That  the  right  to  ex- 
cept to  the  report  of  said  viewers  by  either  party,  shall  be,  and 
remain  the  same,  as  is  extended  to  reports  of  viewers,  for  road 
damages  under  the  existing  laws  of  this  commonwealth. 

Section  S.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid , That  whenever,  in  the  opinion  of  the  canal  com- 
missioners, any  water  may  be  spared  from  any  part  of  the 
Pennsylvania  canal,  without  injury  to  the  navigation  or  safety 
thereof,  in  such  case  they  are  authorised  to  lease  the  said 
water  to  such  person  or  persons  as  may  be  willing  to  give  the 
highest  annual  rent;  reserving,  however,  in  the  lease  to  be 
given,  the  right  to  limit,  control  or  wholly  resume  the  said 
waters,  and  all  the  rights  granted  by  every  such  lease,  when- 
ever. in  the  opinion  of  the  said  commissioners,  or  of  the  Le- 

3 


18 


gislature,  the  safety  of  such  canals  or  woiks,  or  the  necessary 
supply  of  water  for  the  navigation  of  any  canal  which  noV  Vs,' 
or  hereafter  may  be,  constructed  by  the  authority  of  the  state. 
Vender  such  limitation,  control  or  resumption  necessary,  and 
whenever  any  lease  for  waters  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  executed, 
the  rent  reserved  therein  shall  be  required  to  be  paid  over 
annually  to  the  commissioners  of  the  canal  fund  ; and  if,  at  any 
time,  such  rent  shall  remain  unpaid  for  one  year  after  the  same 
shall  become  due,  in  that  case  the  said  lease  shall  be  forfeited 
to  the  state;  but  in  all  cases  where  such  waters  may  be  spared, 
as  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  commissioners  to 
cause  written  notice  to  be  put  up  in  public  places,  near  the 
said  waters,  at  least  thirty  days  previous  to  the  execution  of 
any  lease,  describing  the  wate.  s which  may  be  so  spared,  and 
stating  the  time  when,  and  the  place  where,  proposals  may  be 
received  lor  the  same : Provided,  That  in  any  case  where  the 
waters,  or  the  use  thereof  granted  or  leased  by  virtue  of  this 
act,  are  resumed  as  aforesaid,  no  damage  or  compensation  shall 
be  paid  or  allowed  to  any  person  or  persons,  who  may  have 
made  any  improvement  orcrections  in  consequence  of  any  such 
grant  or  lease. 

Section  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  the  provisions,  so  far  as  they  are  applicable, 
contained  in  the  act,  entitled  “ An  act  to  provide  for  the  com- 
mencement of  a canal  to  be  constructed  at  the  expense  of  the 
state,  and  to  he  styled  the  Pennsylvania  canal,* ? shall  be  in 
force  so  far  as  respects  this  act ; and  so  much  of  the  laws  re- 
latingto  the  ‘ Pennsylvania  canal,’  as  is  inconsistent  with  this 
act,  is  hereby  repealed 


